Unfortunately if I don't get my upper lip waxed, I grow a thick mustache! So I will keep getting that waxed...

You can thread/wax your upper lips and any sort of body hair. There is no harm in that. Infact if one is married it would actually be encouraged. Its the eye-brows that should not be messed with (the middle part of the eye-brows above nose is still okay).

You can get the part b/w your brows cleaned up - there is a hadith (Saying of Prophet Muhammad) that tells muslim women (and men) not to get tattoos and piercings, and space their teeth or shape their brows because this is what the non-muslim women used to do. (In summary).

If eye brow shaping is haram, then so is wearing eyeliner and makeup.
but since this is not explicitly mention in any Hadith or the Qur'an it's ok?

Wearing eye-liner and makeup is not haraam - it depends on how you use it. If you are using these products to show-off or attract the attention of un-related males, then it can be haraam. Depends on the use.

There is nothing wrong with women using make-up or eye-liner for their husbands, family-members or in female gatherings.

Practically speaking if you want to use make-up in your daily life, to hide scars/acne or to look more presentable, best to do it in an under-stated manner without looking too ostentatious. (Heavy eye-makeup, colorful lips etc).

Many women don't realise it is for the general betterment of women. As Muslims, we are encouraged to dress up and display our ornaments to our men (spouses) and family-members, not the general public. This is better rather than have a society where women dress to the nines when they go out in public, creating an environment of female competition where women are judged based on looks and their beauty is being rated and judged by random people.

Also, there IS a hadith that talks about eye-brow plucking - scholars say it is okay to clean up the part above the nose, (which causes the unibrow) because it is not part of the actual brow. Also, if a woman is excessively hairy, so much so that it makes her look very unattractive and hinders suitors, she is allowed to even neaten her brows (because hers is an exceptional case).

I understand that men and women can be captivated by beauty of ones eyes. so, if someone was born with perfect eyebrows where it looks really neat and well groomed, it's ok, even if their eyebrows look attractive.
but others who weren't blessed with good looking eyebrows have to leave them be?

People come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, skin colors etc. Some are deemed more attractive by society and some are not. Its not just about eye-brows... if one has that mentality, where does one stop? What about hair? Skin? Weight? Ok, so its not 'fair' that not everybody was created the same physically - but thats life. And as Muslims we believe that Allah in His infinite wisdom created everybody the way they are.

I understand that the purpose of the Hadith is so that we don't alter what we are born with. 'shaping the teeth.' does braces account for that??? and I know my dentist has trimmed my teeth before...why? i never questioned.

Since you are not sure "why" this hadith was saying this, you need to look at the explanation of the Hadith by Scholars. You are not allowed to create artificial spaces in b/w the teeth like the hadith says. I have not heard anywhere that getting braces is haraam. You should take these concerns to a reliable scholar or read-up...

Anyway, getting braces is perfectly fine Islamically. What would NOT be fine is getting gold-teeth or things like that.

Also, I don't know if "altering one's natural state" is the reason for the hadith... because as Muslims we are allowed to do a lot of things that álter our natural state' like get haircuts, remove body hair, cut our nails, dye our nails, dye our hair - etc etc. There are SOME things that are explicitly prohibited and we stay away from them (like tattoos etc).

And I know women who actually alter their appearance by shaving off the eyebrow and tattooing it completely. this i can see why it's haram, because u r literally changing whats on your face, but shaping your eyebrow is like giving yourself a haircut.....

unless that too is haram...

You sound really frustrated.... I think that as Muslims before we can be comfortable implementing Islamic tenets into our lives, we need to be comfortable with our Deen. I think it would be a good idea to get in touch with the Qur'an, read the explanation, listen to/attend some beneficial talks/lectures etc. If we don't even know why we do/or don't do certain things in Islam, we find it harder.

The issue is not as simple as 'plucking eyebrows" I''m sure even if somebody did say u can pluck, there would be something else that would bother you. That can happen if we aren't really in touch with Allah and the Qur'an. The issue is deeper, not as simple as eye-brows. May Allah help us all implement deen and find it easy.

Anyway: You CAN neaten ur brows by removing the hair above ur nose and trimming hairs with a scissor that stick out. I would still be careful about plucking the brows into a shape, unless you ask a scholar. If this issue is REALLY bringing down your imaan, and thats all you can think about and you are feeling really frustrated, maybe I'm not supposed to say it, but my advise would be - do it then. I mean, if you are not plucking, but thinking all the time about how its so unfair, and why this is so - then there really is no point to not-plucking is there? Because you are not doing it for the right reasons...

Response: In one of your answers you have stated that there is nothing wrong with women plucking their facial hairs. I have some reservations about your deduction as I have contrary evidence: `

Abdullāh Ibn Mas`ūd has reported: Allah curses those ladies who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and those ladies who remove the hair from their eyebrows and faces and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth in order to look more beautiful whereby they change Allah's creation.

His saying reached a lady from Banī Asad called Ummi Yāqūb who came (to `Abdullāh) and said: I have come to know that you have cursed such-and-such (ladies)? He replied: Why should I not curse these whom Allah's Apostle has cursed and who are (cursed) in Allah's Book! Ummi Yāqūb said: I have read the whole Qur'ān, but I did not find in it what you say. He said: Verily, if you have read it (i.e. the Qur'ān), you have found it.

Didn't you read: And whatsoever the Apostle gives you take it and whatsoever he forbids you, you abstain (from it). (59.7)

She replied: Yes, I did. He said: Verily, Allah's Apostle forbade such things. She said: But I see your wife doing these things? He said: Go and watch her. She went and watched her but could not see anything in support of her statement.

On that he said: If my wife was as you thought, I would not keep her in my company. (Bukhārī, Kitābu'l Libās) The opinion here in Saudia is that the word plucking/removing is used and with special reference to face; therefore any form of removal of hair from face is cursed according to this hadīth.

Now as my wife practices Hairdressing, Electrolysis and Beauty Therapy she is a bit confused at your reply. She has been studying Islam at her college for the past four years. She has been taught that such a practice is strictly forbidden. She has since then stopped doing so, but when we read your view, the subject has come up again. We would like to know the proof of your deduction.

Comment: In my opinion, one must always keep in consideration two fundamental principles while studying and interpreting Ahādith:

Firstly, to determine, as far as possible, the context and the background, all Ahādith on a particular subject should be collected and then analyzed as to ascertain the overall picture which emerges.

Secondly, they must be related to the Qur’ān and Sunnah. This means that they must have a base in these two primary sources of Islam. They cannot and must not be taken independently.

Applying these principles to the hadīth you have referred to shows that there were a number of practices (only some of which have been mentioned in this hadīth) which the Arab ladies used to undertake which entirely changed their natural physical appearance and some of which actually gave a false impression of their outward looks. Almost all the major books of hadīth mention the various texts in which these practices have been is narrated.

The initial part of the hadīth you have alluded to `... whereby change Allah's creation' itself suggests the relationship of this hadīth with the Qur’ān:. Verse 31 of Sūrah Rūm, reads thus:

Follow the nature upon which Allah has created mankind. It is not proper to change this nature. (31:31)

It is in accordance with this principle mentioned in the Qur’ān that the Prophet (sws) forbade a number of such practices. In other words, the nature -- physical as well as spiritual -- of a human being must be preserved in the shape Allah has created. Consequently, anything which may become a means of changing or modifying this nature is undesirable.

However, a fine distinction exists between beautification to quench one's aesthetic sense and alteration, the former being a permissible thing.

These Ahādith also mention a practice called "Tannamus" which means removing the hair which extends on to the forehead in a particular style. This again was forbidden by the Prophet (sws).

The hadīth you have mentioned contains this word; however it has been erroneously translated as `to remove hair from the face'. In the light of this analysis, it is evident that removing hair from the face is something which the Prophet (sws) never did forbid.

I am very, very new to Islam, and prior to my decision to actually start practicing, I routinely plucked my eyebrows. Am I ok if I just stop! I know that I'm not identifiable as a Muslim because I don't wear hijab yet, but I don't want to sin, either.

I am very, very new to Islam, and prior to my decision to actually start practicing, I routinely plucked my eyebrows. Am I ok if I just stop! I know that I'm not identifiable as a Muslim because I don't wear hijab yet, but I don't want to sin, either.

''To sum up, according to the majority of classical jurists, it is permitted for married women to pluck, trim and neaten their eyebrows ‘slightly’ for their husbands, provided they do not expose them in front of non-Mahram men. As for non-married women, this remains impermissible. However, if the eyebrows look deformed and defected then it is permissible for even non-married women to turn them into a more normal size. Trimming the eyebrows excessively into a thin fine line is not permitted for both married and not married women, since it distorts one’s appearance and results in imitating immoral women.

And Allah knows best

[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK ''

Edited by Chrysalis - 03 October 2013 at 5:21am

"O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they showed mercy to me when I was young."

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